View your cached web data with this easy guide
This wikiHow teaches you how to find the temporary internet files for your web browser, as well as how to find other temporary files on your PC or Mac. Temporary files, or cache, are temporary data your computer uses to make operations run more smoothly. Your web browser uses temporary internet files to load websites faster. You can easily find where your browser or computer stores temporary files when you know where to look.
Where to Find Your Temporary Files
- In Microsoft Edge, temporary internet files are in "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Cache"
- To view other temporary files on Windows, press Win + R , type "%temp%", and press Enter.
- To see temporary files on your Mac, navigate to "~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Caches" in Finder.
Steps
Section 3 of 6:
Firefox
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Type about:cache into the address bar and press ↵ Enter . This command opens and displays your temporary internet files (cache) in Firefox.
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Click the List Cache Entries link. It's below the "disk" heading near the middle of the page. Doing so will open a page listing all of your Firefox's temporary internet files.
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Open the Firefox cache folder in Windows (optional). You can also find the Firefox cache files at "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\cache2" on Windows. Use the following steps to navigate to it:
- Press Win + R to open Run.
- Type %AppData% and press Enter .
- Click AppData in the address bar at the top.
- Open the Local folder.
- Open the Mozilla folder.
- Open the Firefox folder.
- Open the Profiles folde.r
- Open the folder that has an 8-digit string of characters followed by ".default".
- Open the cache2 folder.
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Navigate to the cache folder on Mac: The location of the cache folder for Firefox on Mac is "~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles." Use the following steps to navigate to it:
- Open Finder .
- Click Go .
- Hold Option and click LIbrary .
- Open the Application Support folder.
- Open the Firefox folder.
- Open the Profiles folder.
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Section 4 of 6:
Windows Temp Files
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Press ⊞ Win + E to open File Explorer. There are two types of temp files on Windows: Windows temp files, which are used by the operating system, and local user temp files, which are used by the apps you run. You can use File Explorer to find your Windows temp files.
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Open your Windows installation drive. On most computers, this will be the "OS C:" drive. You can find it in the menu bar to the left, or under "This PC."
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Navigate to the Windows temp files. These are the general temp files that Windows creates. They are usually located at "C:\Windows\Temp." You may need administrative access to access these files. Use the following steps to navigate to the Windows temp files.
- Click Windows .
- Scroll down and click Temp .
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Press ⊞ Win + R to open Run. You can use Run to quickly navigate to your local user temp files. These are where most of your applications store their temp files. Use the keyboard shortcut to open Run.
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Type %temp% and press ↵ Enter . This will open the local temp folder in File Explorer. The location of the local user temp folder is usually "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp."
- You will see a bunch of free-floating files as well as a few folders for various programs.
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Section 5 of 6:
Mac Cache Files
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Open your Mac's Finder. Your Mac stores temporary files (other than those from your web browser) in folders for each app. Click the blue smiling face icon on the bottom-left to open your Finder.
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Click Go . It's in the menu bar at the top of the page
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Hold ⌥ Option and click Library . This will open your user library folder.
- The Library option only shows up when you press down the Option/Alt key.
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Double-click the Caches folder. This folder contains the temp files for all the applications on your Mac.
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Locate a folder for an application. Most temp folders on a Mac have a name like "com.apple.safari." Here you can find the temp folders for various applications on your Mac.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionHow do I delete temporary Internet files in Chrome?Community AnswerWithin Chrome: CTRL-H Click on Clear Browsing Data Check what you want deleted and select how far back Then click Clear Browsing Data
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Tips
- Temporary internet files can be anything from copies of the images and icons one finds on any website to files containing pieces of website code.Thanks
- Neither Chrome nor Firefox stores usable files on your computer.Thanks
- Some temporary Internet files will be impossible to open without the context of the website for which they were designed.Thanks
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References
About This Article
Article Summary
X
1. Open Finder
.
2. Press the Option
key and click Go
.
3. Click Library
.
4. Double-click Caches
.
5. Double-click com.apple.Safari
.
6. Double-click fsCachedData
.
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 579,922 times.
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